Welcome everyone to a new year of activities. Our National Spiritual Development chairperson is Mary Nordick.

Because Spiritual development is our main reason in life, in her communiqué #3 she is inviting us

“To witness our faith and to give loving service to others, members must continue to grow in faith and nurture spiritual life. Prayer is key, and keeps us connected to our loving God and enables us to serve those in need. “

She invites all spiritual development chairpersons to explore unfamiliar formasof prayer to change from the regular routine in our meetings prayers.

Some of the forms of prayers that she suggested are:

“The members of the national executive have been challenged by the national president and national spiritual advisor to try to pray the Hours morning and evening this year. Lectio Divina is a form of prayer that asks us to prayerfully consider scripture. If the rosary is a popular devotion, particularly during the month of October, try other forms such as a social justice focus or a living rosary. If members wish to focus on God’s love and desire for justice for all His children, what better prayer to meditate on than Mary’s Magnificat? Members who attended diocesan, provincial or national conventions, have access to liturgy booklets which are rich resources of prayers based on the theme We Have Seen the Lord!. There are also helpful prayer resources available on the website.

Who and what are we going to pray for? The possibilities are endless. Some ideas to consider are:

• Pope Francis called for prayers and a day of fasting for peace in the troubled country of Syria. The designated day has passed but the need for prayer continues.

• Prayer for peace has been a focus for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12th.

• Many prayer vigils for an end to violence against women are held across Canada on December 6th in commemoration of the Montreal massacre.

• On the last weekend of September The Salvation Army promotes a weekend of prayer to end human trafficking. Please check the resources available at salvationist.ca.

• The month of November is a time to remember and pray for those who have entered eternal life.

The theme We have Seen the Lord! encourages members to tell their stories of seeing the Lord in their lives. Consider sharing a few stories at each meeting or consider having an evening social and faith sharing time. “

Are you up to the challenge? Lets pray together. May Our Lady of Good Counsel protect you.

(Vatican Radio) Catholic bishops in the Canadian province of Quebec have criticized a proposed law banning public employees from wearing conspicuous religious symbols. They say the ban contained in the Quebec government’s proposed Charter of Values is going too far and could backfire. Susy Hodges spoke to the Archbishop of Montreal, Christian Lépine, to find out more about the bishops’ reservations concerning this plan. Listen to the full interview with Archbishop Lépine: Archbishop Lépine says Quebec’s Catholic bishops are all united in their opposition to this proposed ban on religious symbols calling it “too strong” and going “too far.” He says in a democracy people should have “the freedom to be who they are. “We have to learn to relate to each other,” he says, and not impose excessive controls on people. The archbishop also believes the proposed law would have a particularly negative impact on Muslim women who wear veils and on religious sisters who, for example, would not be allowed to wear their habits and veils if they worked with children in a kindergarten. Asked about the reaction from lay Catholics and the public to the government’s plan to ban religious symbols, Archbishop Lépine says there is a lot of “confusion” over the true nature of secularism and what it means. He says there is a secularism which is open to the “concept of religious freedom” and welcomes “the diversity of beliefs” and then there is a secularism where people want to remove religion entirely from the public sphere.

Greetings to each one of you! Summer is ended and a new year begins. The national convention was wonderful. I was very proud to represent all of you. The theme: We Have Seen The Lord was well developed throughout all the liturgical services, presentations and reports. Over 700 members attended. I held each one of you in my heart as I carried in our Flag with great pride at the opening ceremony. During the resolution dialogue three resolutions were presented for discussion followed with a mini workshop on how to prepare a resolution: a very good learning exercise. Each Eucharistic Celebration and daily liturgy was thought provoking. We were graced with wonderful short dramatizations; one, the three Marys: Mary of Nazareth, Mary of Magdala and Mary of the CWL; the other, the women at the tomb. We heard four honorary life members tell their personal story on how they had seen The Lord. Each one was awesome! Father Bill Burke from the USA spoke on the year of Faith. He explained that Faith is born of an encounter with the living God upon which we can lean on. He challenged us to reclaim Sunday as the day of Our Lord. I was particularly inspired with Sr. Fay Trombley’s experience, north of the Arctic Circle in Tuktoyaktuk NT. Her description of the many years of service with the Inuit and Inuvialuit peoples has left me with a strong desire to go there some day.

I have returned from convention determined to serve The League with much joy. I hope to instill this in you. I am convinced that the CWL is a very special organization in which our faith is enriched by the people we encounter. Together we can make a difference. Let us not be afraid to change our ways and maybe discover that we are enjoying ourselves. Looking forward to seeing many of you throughout this year!

This fall we already have a few Catch The Fire presentations scheduled. Our intention is to continue reaching out to all regions of Quebec. Speak with your members and give us a few dates that would work for you. Our facilitators are eager to present.

Regarding the mid-term meeting Sat. Sept 28th, your presence is much need but if you are unable to attend or send a representative please let me know.

Greetings to all of you. Last July, as I accompanied a group of students to World Youth Day in Brazil, I prayed for all our CWL members in Quebec. This past august I attended the National convention in Regina along with a few others from our province. As many asked me if I was on the provincial executive, I often answered, yes I am now organization chair, they would squint and wait then ask, does that mean that you are president-elect and I would teasingly reply yes, but I think I prefer to say organization.Just between us, it is not so scary to imagine in a few years being provincial president for two reasons, the first is that I can count on a great team of ladies on the provincial executive including the past presidents Janet and Diane, the second is that I find the role of organization to be a little scarier as it comes with quite the workload, at least it seems that way.I spent the week rereading the manuals for organization, thinking about the annual reports, your reports and praying for God’s inspiration to constantly build up his church, with the help of all you sisters in the League.

ReportsI would like to try a new format for our provincial annual report book, based on evaluations from last year and also so that we can simplify the work that each report requires. Hopefully this will allow us to spend less time on simplified reports and spend more time on other parish and league priorities.There will be a sample report sent to you (giving you a preview of what it will look like in the report book) as well as what is expected. Many of it will be checklists and some of it will be writing.If you wish help filling out there will be the possibility of a phone buddy to go through it with you.

Catch the fireThe workshops held last year were a wonderful experience. We hope to host quite a few in the fall as well as during the year. We hope that all members able to attend will have experienced this unique workshop. Our team of facilitators have also enjoyed working as a team to learn and pray with the members we meet. Workshops

Workshops on different themes will be offered during the year, in different regions, they will be open to any member wishing to attend. Once the schedule has been established it will be sent to you and also posted on the website.

Life membersIn collaboration with our provincial life member liason, Diane Lemay, she will be contacting them to see in what ways they may be willing to contribute to the needs of the League as well as asking them about what kind of spiritual nourishment they might appreciate to have as a group.Recruiting members

New members’ kits: I am hoping to find out how many of you offer a new member kit to your new members and what is inside the kit. I will also create a few sample kits that you may wish to use or perhaps request from provincial for your new members. Youtube videos : as we continue improving our website and communications, if we have some people willing to work on a new project, we will create a series of videos to encourage both leadership and active membership.

During my two years as organization chair I hope to contribute to building teams and teamwork, strengthen leadership, establish some new ways of doing things that are essential, as well as find visual ways to keep track of our roots and our history.I am inviting all of you to join me as pilgrims of the Risen Christ. We must journey together and search answers together for the good of our word, our society, our parishes and our families. I hope that we will try new things, reach out to new people and help strengthen one another in the call we have each received since the day of our baptism.